Fernando Botero Zea

Fernando Botero Zea (23 August 1956-) was the Minister of National Defense of Colombia from 7 August 1994 to 2 August 1995, succeeding Rafael Pardo Rueda and preceding Juan Carlos Esguerra Portocarrero. He was a member of the Colombian Liberal Party, and he served in Ernesto Samper's cabinet.

Biography
Fernando Botero Zea was born in Mexico City, Mexico on 23 August 1956, the son of famed Colombian figurative artist and sculptor Fernando Botero Angulo. He graduated from the University of the Andes back in Colombia, and he attended the Harvard Business School during the 1980s. Botero was elected to the Bogota city council and later to the Colombian Congress as a Colombian Liberal Party member, and he worked as a campaign manager for Ernesto Samper's run for president. In 1994, he was named Minister of National Defense under the Samper administration, and he was later accused of receiving bribes from the Cali Cartel while running the presidential campaign; he was also criticized for his poor handling of an arms deal with Israel. In 1995, he left office, and he served 30 months in prison from 1996 to 1998. In 2009, he affirmed that he would stay in his birth country of Mexico and not return to Colombia, where he could face trial.